8th-grader aims to ‘bee' school's best speller

For Otto Wallenmeyer, running spell check in a word-processing program would be redundant. For the second year in a row the West Perry eighth-grader placed second in The Patriot-News Spelling Bee.

At the Harrisburg Hilton on March 2, Wallenmeyer faced off against more than 50 students in a contest that took well over two hours.

Wallenmeyer said he studied a list of most commonly used words to prepare.

"If you study just that list of words ... and study your language and know your roots and stuff, that really helps. The first-place person this year studied the whole dictionary.'

Wallenmeyer said the words for the final stages of the bee are taken from the addenda section of "Merriam Webster Third New International Dictionary.'

The spelling bee is open to middle school students. Wallenmeyer, 14, has been representing West Perry since he was in the sixth grade. His progression over the years is evident. His first year, he said, "I didn't even make it into the top 10.'
He survived multiple rounds as a seventh-grade finalist because "we both kept getting them wrong.' This year, the two finalists prolonged the contest because they "kept getting them right.'

A bollard tripped him up on March 2. "It's something they tie a boat to or poles they put in the road to keep trucks from going through," he explained.

Not that he's complaining, because the prizes have improved over the years. This year he received a hard hat from Pennsy Supply, a $200 check from the Harrisburg Senators and a 15-inch LCD flat-screen TV with built-in DVD player. "I'm trying to get my parents to let me put it in my room. It's currently sitting in the guest bedroom.'

Last year his second-place prize garnered him no money and a more traditional 13-inch TV. "It was really big and heavy.'

After qualifying at the middle school, Wallenmeyer went on to pass a test at the Harrisburg Hilton, which allowed him to compete onstage. The contest put some heavy pressure on Wallenmeyer.

"It's pretty nerve-wracking really. All your parents, relatives are sitting in chairs while we're sitting on a hot stuffy stage. It takes a good while.'

Wallenmeyer is the son of Bill and Mary Wallenmeyer of Shermans Dale and a member of Shermans Dale Boy Scout Troop 94. He also takes math courses at the high school.